MIAC Volleyball Tournament PageST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The Saint Benedict volleyball team kept its season alive and extended its national tournament hopes Tuesday night with a big 3-0 win over Gustavus in a MIAC Quarterfinal match.
The Blazers are currently ranked No. 22 in the country and will move on to face No. 8 St. Thomas in the MIAC semifinals at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 6, in St. Paul.
In the first set, the third-seeded Blazers jumped out to a 12-6 lead early in the match. The sixth-seeded Gusties then fought back with 4-1 run to put the score at 13-10. From here, the Blazers continued to extend their lead and finished with a 25-18 win.
Laura Schmitt finished the set with four kills and
Victoria Nass led the defense with seven digs.
In the next set, the score was tied six times before the Blazers took a 4-0 run to gain a 15-11 lead. The Gusties then fought back to tie the game at 20-20 and the two teams continued to fight back and forth until the Blazers pushed through for a 28-26 win.
Melissa Koop led the offense in this set with five kills and a hitting percentage of .714.
Sophie Stangl and
Mary Franz also each added another four kills in this set.
The third and final set started very close before the Blazers broke away with a 9-3 run to take an 18-11 lead. From here, the Blazers continued to hold back the Gusties and walked away with a 25-18 win and advanced to the MIAC semifinals. Schmitt added five more kills to her total and Rinde added another four. Schmitt also added another six digs to help power the defense in the final set.
Schmitt and Stangl finished the night with a team high of 10 kills while
Lexi Rinde added another nine.
Taya Kockelman also totaled 37 set assists and three service aces. The defense was led by Nass and Schmitt, who each finished with 14 digs. As a team, the Blazers finished with a hitting percentage of .228 on the night.
The Blazers improved to 21-8 on the year with the win and look to avenge one of its losses from earlier this season against St. Thomas on Thursday. The Tommies earned the No. 2 seed in the tournament and received a bye in Tuesday's quarterfinals.
